One of the subjects that interest me the most about movies (including DP movies) is the box-office. I think that if used in the right way (I mean, inflation-adjusting things), it might be a good way to compare movies and understed why they are popular or not. So I spent some time researching and I finally came up with the North American grosses of the 10 DP Movies. Hope you enjoy my research, my comments and my images.


#10 - The Princess and the Frog - $107.7 million
If the word "flop" applies to any of the DP Movies, unfortunately, it's this one. The Princess and the Frog's marketing was very centered in the "return of traditional animation/fairy tale thing" and didn't consider that people might have lost interest in this kind of movie. Though it didn't help that people created too much expectations, PatF really could have done better. Also we have to remember that it was released weeks before James Cameron's Avatar (currently the highest-grossing movie of all time) and Alvin and the Chimpmunks 2.


#9 - Tangled - $199.9 million
If this list wasn't inflation-adjusted, Tangled would rank #2. But we are not considering the additional price of the 3D ticket and the inflation factor has been included. Tangled was definetevely very sucessful, though not as much as its isolated numbers may seem to. It grossed twice as much as PatF and delivered Disney's biggest opening weekend ever, giving a new chance to the fairy tale genre. Part of the sucess may be explained by its marketing, that managed to expand the movie's audience.


#8 - Mulan - $204.2 million
Mulan was very sucessful upon its release, but not as much as the other DP renaissance movies. Maybe little girls avoided it because of the "China-War-Dragon" theme. Also, in 1998, the peak of Disney's renaissance was gone and after The Lion King, movies started to gross less than Disney's "Fab Four" (which also includes The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast and Aladdin). However Mulan outgrossed non-DP Movies The Hunchback of Notre Dame(1996, $179.9 million) and Hercules (1997, $171.4 million).


#7 - The Little Mermaid - $210.3 million
Things were very hard for animated movies back in 1989, when The Little Mermaid was released. It's even unfair to compare its gross with most of the other movies, because TLM had to "start from zero", while the other movies found a Disney-confident audience. While it was possible to market Beauty and the Beast as "The movie from the studios that brought you The Little Mermaid", Ariel didn't have such thing. However, even considering this, the movie isn't in the bottom 3 of the list and that is already very impressive. In 1989, it was the highest grossing animated movie to date (not inflation-adjusted).


#6 - Pocahontas - $258.4 million
People often refer to Pocahontas as a flop, but that's not true. The problem is that some anxious filmmakers were expecting the movie to go ahead of The Lion King's $592 million tally, and when the movie "only" grossed $258 million, they were clearly frustated. However, I'd say that the movie was mostly benefited by TLK's hype. If it had been released in other year, it certainly would be lower.


#5 - Beauty and the Beast - $312.5 million
Benefited by The Little Mermaid's hype, Beauty and the Beast managed to go ahead of that movie. The best picture nomination in the Oscars and the Golden Globe for best movie (Musical/Comedy) also helped the movie to gain interest, and to date, it beated TLM to be the highest grossing animated movie (not inflation-adjusted). With its 3D version release this week, the movie might even beat the #4 movie.


#4 - Cinderella - $370.0 million
Disney's most popular princess didn't make it to the podium of the highest-grossing movies. Of course it was very sucessful and saved the Disney Studios, but it's not the kind of movie people remember from the theaters. However, back in 1950, it outgrossed Snow White and remained as the top-grossing animated movie until Lady and the Tramp (1955, not inflation-adjusted).


#3 - Aladdin - $416.4 million
I'm sure most of you are surprised with this. Aladdin was an enormous hit in 1992 and it outgrossed The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast by a very wide margin (maybe because it is more attractive for boys). However, nowadays, Aladdin isn't as popular as TLM or BatB. Also, if the list wasn't inflation-adjusted, Aladdin would rank #1.


#2 - Sleeping Beauty - $577.0 million
Another big surprise! Bad mouths may say that this movie was a flop, but there are no words against the numbers. Though it grossed less than Cinderella and Snow White upon its original release, Sleeping Beauty managed to improve its gross with its re-releases over the years. Currently, it ranks #30 in the list of the all-time movie grossers.


#1 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfes - $865.5 million
This definetevely wasn't a surprise. Disney's most popular movie and a masterpiece from the cinema, Snow White became the biggest hit of all time upon its original release (though it was outgrossed by "Gone With the Wind" later). Currently, Snow White is among the top 10 all-time grossers with an impressive $865.5 million tally.

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